


the illimitable stars

by pints (MegCapet)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Little Mermaid Elements, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-27 08:32:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10805532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegCapet/pseuds/pints
Summary: Chanyeol struggles with a life beneath the waves, where his love of music must remain secondary to his obligations as crown prince. Lonely and uncertain of his future, Chanyeol finds himself falling in love with the song of a human prince, Kyungsoo - someone he knows he can never have. That is, until a sea witch makes an offer that Chanyeol can't refuse...





	1. Chapter 1

“You have to hurry or we're going to miss them,” Chanyeol whined, leaving his older sister behind in a rushed cloud of bubbles. Yura rolled her eyes and pumped her tail in quick bursts to build up speed, refusing to be beaten in anything by her baby brother. But this was no ordinary day and despite Yura being the quicker of the two in a flat out race, Chanyeol was being propelled along by more than just his muscles.

They were close.

Chanyeol's tail and his core ached as he pushed himself harder, turning up now just slightly to crest over the top of the reef and look out over the open ocean. A school of bright reef fish – yellow and orange blurs – panicked at his presence and darted off in every direction, including straight into Yura's face. The older mermaid sputtered and spit and cursed at her brother under her breath.

He had stopped just at the edge of the reef and now scanned the blank blueness of the depths. They were here. Yura caught up and punched Chanyeol squarely in the shoulder, his gills fluttering to process more oxygen from the water around them, “I can't believe you dragged me all the way out here and they aren't -”

“Yura,” Chanyeol whispered with a religious reverence. Yura waited for her brother to continued, but he simply pointed and that is when she saw them. A small group of humpback whales, a female pursued by three larger males. Chanyeol's eyes were wide, trying to take in all of the creatures, to study them as intensely as he could while they were close.

The female and the larger of the males began to descend, dancing in a twisting spiral around each other as they sank further and further into the darkness below. They would soon disappear, too deep for any mermaid to venture and into a place known to no one except the whales. But it was the two males that Chanyeol watched with the most curiosity. The two of them had lost the race to mate, but instead of fighting, instead of blaming each other, they began to sing.

Chanyeol sighed with all the intensity of a broken heart as he watched the two males circle each other, rubbing against one another as if to give comfort. Their immense bodies seemed as though they should be incapable of such gentleness, but each caress was as easy and welcome as anything the daintier fingers of a mermaid could give to his or her lover. Chanyeol wrapped his arms tightly around himself and a smile spread over his face as the two siblings became surrounded by music. The whales serenaded each other with notes as deep as the ocean, causing the two mer people on the edge of the reef to tremble right down to their lowest fin.

“It's beautiful,” Yura whispered, sliding an arm around Chanyeol's middle.

“Yes,” Chanyeol said simply and Yura could see from the cloudiness of his eyes that her brother had much much more to say. She stayed quiet and let him work through the moment. “Yura, I want to sing for someone like that. I want to make someone happy like that, make them feel...”

Yura smiled and kissed Chanyeol's bare shoulder, “It is that sort of selflessness that will make you a great king one day.”

Chanyeol pressed his eyes closed, body still vibrating with the sound of the whale's music. The two males turned down and followed each other into the depths, their song little by little fading away. Chanyeol strained to hear every note, his forehead wrinkled in concentration until there was nothing left to hear.

“Yura,” Chanyeol said with a trembling voice, “I don't want to be a king. I want - “

Yura cut him off with a careful hand on his back, “I know.”

Chanyeol swished his tail aimlessly and turned his eyes upwards, towards the world above and the heat of the sun. “Yura, I want to fall in love.”

Yura had loved her brother from the moment he had entered the world and it hurt her deeply to see him so lonely. He was the youngest of their family, the very last to emerge from the final batch of eggs produced by their father, the king of the Northern Seas. And he was, to the joy of all that had witnessed it, gloriously male. Yura, already a hundred years old by the time Chanyeol had come to the world, had almost spit in frustration at the old ways and their backwards reverence for gender, wanting to gather him up in all his smallness and rescue him from the endless lessons and refining they subjected him to. And yet, half a century later and endless trips into the deep with her younger sibling, and Yura could do nothing but agree with them on one thing – something in Chanyeol, though surely not his maleness, made him both soft and intelligent and capable when he put his mind to it. And that would indeed make him a powerful, loving, adored king.

She rubbed his back slowly, “You know it is possible to have both? The King Upon The Land once fell in love too. They say he swam into the sea and the great whirlpool saw his beauty and couldn't look away. She tried to hold him close, but in her present form, it nearly killed him. But their love transformed her to walk on the sands and they lived together for many years. And he is still known as the greatest of kings, the one who established the dynasty above the waves.”

Chanyeol knew his sister was only trying to be helpful, but it stung. He said her name with soft disappointment, “But Yura, Jongdae is a … fairy tale. No one can even remember if he actually existed. And even if he truly existed to sit upon the throne, it is impossible for any of us born into the sea to leave. Even the great whirlpool.”

“Perhaps,” Yura said with a wisp of hope to her voice, “But it is a good fairy tale and there are many to fall in love with here, at home. Someone to help you rule.”

Chanyeol opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a great burst of harsh sound from the west. The deep call of the conch shell was a common way of calling back the many scattered merfolk into the crevasse they called home. Sometimes it was simply storms, sometimes it was something much worse. And sometimes their father simply wanted to know that all his children were safe. Yura reached to take her brother's hand, but he slipped from her grasp just in time, “I'll be right behind you. I want to... I just want to see if they come up again.” He indicated the dark blue of the open ocean and imagined it were still possible to hear the calls of the his whales.

Nodding hesitantly, Yura let her hand drop away, “Be safe then. And... Chanyeol? Don't think that I don't know understand what you're going through. I may not be a the little crowned prince of our kingdom, but we all know loneliness sometimes.” Though her words were dark, she lifted the tone of her voice slightly at the end – a call to hope. Chanyeol let the corners of his mouth turn up in something like a smile, though he didn't feel much comforted by her words. Was it the destiny and doom of all merpeople to find nothing by dissatisfaction beneath the ocean?

He watched as his sister propelled herself smoothly and with force through the water, her strong tail creating a curtain of bubbles as she disappeared towards their home. Chanyeol floated aimlessly for a moment, before descending down into a patch of warm sand, letting the texture soothe him. He'd be picking little bits from his scales for days but it was worth it. He let his mind drift, closing his eyes and imagining how much warmer the sand would be on the surface, heated always by a friendly sun. He imagined the calls of sea birds, heard clearly rather than through layers of salt water. He imagined the sweet song of his lover, a man both intelligent and soft and strong, the two of them singing together perhaps as they walked along the beach. He could almost hear it, the song...

I will follow my heart, more honest than anyone else....

Chanyeol's eyes burst open and he jolted up out of his sandy bed, creating a cloud of debris all around him. This was no dream. That song he had heard... it was real. He let his head fall back and he stared up through the waves towards the sun. He had been told more times than he could count how dangerous it was to take to the surface. But …

I will follow my heart -

Biting his lip and glancing around with a nervous acceptance of what he was about to do, Chanyeol squared his shoulders and threw himself through the water and towards the surface.

 

The sun was a villain. Chanyeol's eyes stung as he came to the surface, the brightness of the sun now fully illuminating his world. He was used to a softer glow. The sun's rays had always been diffused by endless ocean, and now their intensity and the dryness of the air made the merman prince strain as he searched the coastline for the source of that perfect music.

Chanyeol had always imagined a great city by the sea, imagined incredible castles and humans too numerous to count, but he had come up on a rocky coast, isolated. A great flock of white birds were feasting on a school of silver fish, but a few of them had ventured a bit more inland to be treated to a different sort of food. Chanyeol followed their pitter-patter feet up the beach and his heart thudded loudly in his chest.

“Don't fight now,” the man on the shore said, “There's enough for everyone if you just share.” His laugh was smooth and easy and it flowed into his song as though they had always been one. “My beautiful butterfly girl...”

He was beyond anything that Chanyeol had hoped for. He eased from line to line of his song, repeating a few, testing different words or intonations, smiling to himself as he found the perfect expression. Chanyeol immediately was glad for the rocky coast, as it disguised his advance, allowing the merman to swim closer and closer to the shore, hiding behind large, jutting rocks. Entering the shallows, Chanyeol felt more nervous than he ever had in his life. But the object of his fascination was so close now...

He wasn't a tall man, Chanyeol thought, though his understanding of how tall or not a human male should be was limited. The nature of his body was mostly hidden by clothing, though his chest pressed against the soft fabric of his shirt. Where Chanyeol's skin was pale from a lifetime under the sea, this man was sun-kissed and warm like the sand. Round cheeks gave him an appearance of youth and when he smiled, his lips took on a pleasing shape. Chanyeol blushed, studying the other man's face with an intensity and hunger that he had never felt before. Chanyeol had been kissed before – the same nervous experiments he imagined that all creatures of their type play – but he hadn't loved Minseok, the visiting prince of the South, and when their lips had touched, it had been cold and tired. Now, Chanyeol felt his gills flutter, a strange attempt to bring in more oxygen. He wanted to kiss this man. He... wanted to do a lot of things.

I will follow my heart, more honest than anyone else....

He tried that line again and tossed another piece of bread at a particularly courageous seagull, one who had come close. “Do we like that one line? Is that right? Is it... too much?” The seagull cocked its head and squawked for another piece of bread. “Right, then. Too much.” The man laughed again and let the gull pick the last bit of bread from his hand. A crowd of the birds had gathered and the human was out of the food that kept them docile and interested. Now they called at him a bit more violently and he dusted off his pants as he stood to walk away.

No no, not too much, it's perfect, would you try it again, Chanyeol wanted to call, but his tongue and heart were caught in his throat. He splashed his tail nervously and pushed himself a little closer, still concealed by a group of jagged rocks. The man was humming along now, bobbing his head lightly as he walked down to the water. They were so close now, mere feet separating them – if Chanyeol could just... he wanted this man to see him, just see him, if only for a second.

The man knelt at the water and rinsed his hands of bread crumbs. Chanyeol watched, lifting himself more out of the water to rest on on the rock, and the man sighed, splashing the water a bit. “I'll follow my heart. Please, Kyungsoo... don't be so...”

“Sing for us again, won't you?”

Chanyeol jerked back towards the water. His eyes darted to the source of the new voice, one much higher in pitch and more affected than the man's. It also gurgled, sounding a bit like the creature had already been drowned. Chanyeol wasn't far off. From out of the water came a tall, lanky creature with a handsome face and flowing seaweed to make his clothing. Its skin was the palest blue and its eyes were rimmed with some dark make up. Chanyeol had heard of these creatures before, but he had never imaged actually seeing one in the flesh.

A siren.

“Please, little one. Won't you sing for us again?”

The man on the shore stiffened, the birds around him taking off violently as though they too were disturbed by the presence of the sea creature. The creature began to hum, a melody so very like the one that the man had been singing, this time with small flourishes that Chanyeol didn't understand at first. Swaying its hips as it came closer to the shallow water of the sea shore, the creature lifted a hand towards the man, “Or come with me and we could sing together.”

Chanyeol watched them carefully, clinging to the rocks with such intensity that their sharpness began to bite into his hands. The man's mouth opened as though he were about to say something, his hand lifting slowly from his side as though he wanted to take this creature's offer, but then... something stopped him. The man took a few steps back and shook his head, coming out of a cloud of confusion. The siren's face was now hidden from Chanyeol's view but he could tell the creature was displeased with this turn of events. All the muscles in its exposed back seemed to tense.

“Just a little song. Nothing wrong with a bit of music,” the siren said, his voice once against decorated with the confusing flourishes of pitch. Chanyeol pressed his teeth together, hard – something about those variations... they seemed so ….

Nervously clenching his fist, the man seemed almost convinced by the creature's words and again, he moved towards the water. His gaze was trapped on the creature, so much so that he seemed unconcerned at the depth of the cold water as he entered the ocean. The creature took careful steps backward in deeper water and the man followed it, cautious step by step, his mouth moving as though he wanted to say something but was unable. The siren cooed at him, encouraging him forward with hints of melody and the man's paced quickened. Chanyeol's stomach turned and the stories of these horrible creatures came back to him a rush.

The siren intended to take the man into the depths. The siren intended to drown him.

Chanyeol pushed back from the rocks with all his strength and dove into the water, using the momentum to accelerate himself through the rough waves at the shore, moving towards the scene. The man was now too close to the creature, in water up to his chest, the siren's hand extending to take the human's. He watched their fingers intertwine and his heart was on fire. He refused to let it be this way.

He burst from the water and tried to tackle the siren away. He had never been much of an athlete and, to his slender body, it felt like hitting stone. The siren's body was surprisingly solid, but Chanyeol was able to push him away, separating the creature's hand from the human's. The creature hissed, all the softness and romance its voice disappearing as it turned to take in Chanyeol. It let out a cruel laugh and reached into an unseen pocket to extract a small dagger, “I wasn't aware that the mer had taken to human flesh.”

Chanyeol steadied himself, “I won't let you take him.”

The creature lowered himself deeper into the water, the dagger still pointed at Chanyeol but making no attempt to laugh a counter attack, “I don't have to do any taking. The spell is already cast.”

Chanyeol looked around, trying to keep at least one eye on the creature, for any sort of weapon. The shoreline sand was filled with rocks and little bits of broken coral, but nothing that Chanyeol could use to defend himself nor the human. He lifted his fists and flexed his tail – he had seen others of his kind in battle before and knew the tail could be a powerful weapon if used correctly. He hoped the creature wouldn't call his bluff, as he had no idea what “correctly” even meant in this situation.

Twirling its dagger in hand, the siren surveyed Chanyeol's fighting stance and laughed again, still darker. “You'll hurt yourself, little mer thing, if you don't move out of my way.” Its words tingled at Chanyeol's ears, the sweet-song variations of pitch. “Don't you like music?”

Chanyeol didn't wait to hear anymore, rushing the creature foolishly but managing to land a clenched fist against the siren's chin. It hurt all the way up his arm, unaccustomed to fighting of any kind, and Chanyeol tried to pull back, but it was too late. The battle had begun.

The siren released another furious hiss and jabbed with its dagger, slicing into Chanyeol's side just below his ribs. Blood, more blood than Chanyeol would have thought, poured from the wound, coloring the water around him. Chanyeol winced with the pain, but pushed through, grabbing at the creature's wrist and keeping the sharp end as far as away from his body as possible. The siren screeched in delight at Chanyeol's clumsy attempts and used its almost human legs to kick through the water, forcing Chanyeol to adjust over and over again. The dagger, Chanyeol knew, that was it. If he could separate the creature from his weapon....

The siren finally landed a good kick, pushing Chanyeol away and allowing itself access to still deeper water. Finding its foothold in the new depth, it took in a good amount of water and began to sing, “Let me lead you, let me take you to the place where I will be...”

Chanyeol frowned at first, but the truth dawned on him quickly. The siren song wasn't meant to distract him, it was meant to finish the job. Swirling around, the pain in his side only growing with the swift movement, Chanyeol watched as the man from the shore continued to move towards them, his entire body now submerged. His legs moved slightly, even as his body tried to float, as though the man were still trying to walk through the surf towards the siren. Only a few bubbles escaped his mouth, still moving in time with the song of his heart. Chanyeol's face was colorless with worry and he threw himself through the water and wrapped his arms around the man, holding him up and out of the water.

The man spit up thick sea water, but continued to fight Chanyeol, pressing against the merman in hungry attempts to return to the water. “You have to stop,” Chanyeol whispered in the man's ear, “You'll die.”

The man shifted, still trying to move into the water, but Chanyeol held him tighter, refusing to let go.

“Please,” Chanyeol said again, “I can't. That thing will kill you. Please let me -”

The man stopped fighting. His eyes were far away, but Chanyeol could swear that, just for a moment, they saw each other. Everything seemed still and Chanyeol had to struggle to hear when the man whispered, “I will follow my heart.” Chanyeol's throat was dry and his heart was near bursting, but the man collapsed, breathless and surely near death into Chanyeol's arms.

“How beautiful,” the creeping voice of the siren cooed into Chanyeol's ear from behind, terrifying the unsuspecting merman into stiffness before thrusting the dagger into his side yet again. The siren twisted the hideous weapon, dragging it down through the more human flesh of Chanyeol's torso and deep into the scales of his tail, dislodging a few, and hummed, “Sweet meat, that of a mer. I thought I'd never have it again and here you are. A silly little thing, didn't even -”

Chanyeol pushed the man away from him and out of his arms towards the shallow water, trying to put distance between him and the two sea dwellers. Ignoring the shooting pain down his side, he thrust his elbow back, meeting the siren in the face. It shrieked in response and tore the knife from Chanyeol's side, aiming again for a killing blow. Chanyeol found it in himself to move out of the way, but only by a few inches. From the siren's nose, there came a trickle of blood and its eyes were angry now as it grabbed for Chanyeol again, pulling the injured merman close.

“Don't think I don't know your face, little prince,” it cursed through its teeth, “Don't think I won't gut a royal and send those pretty scales to your father's doorstep.”

Chanyeol tried to pull away, but his injuries were too severe. He worried as the water clouded with pink if anyone would even know to come looking for him. He worried as the smell of blood filled his nose, if the siren really would pick through his meat, if sharks would come to finish off the evidence. If the siren, unsatisfied with Chanyeol, would try again for the man and his song....

“I'll enjoy your liver last,” the siren continued, its threats spoken in a voice so deep that they were almost sexual, “I'll eat every piece of -”

Unable to pull away and without a weapon, Chanyeol attacked with the only thing he had, biting down into the siren's neck with sharp teeth and refusing to let go. His mouth filled with hot liquid and he almost choked but held firm. He tore into the soft flesh and pulled back, ripping something, anything from the creature's skin and spitting it into the water before going back for more. The creature stabbed again and again, missing mostly but occasionally slicing yet another vicious cut into Chanyeol's belly. Chanyeol knew he should reach for the dagger, knew he should end it once and for all, but he … couldn't. He didn't want to kill this thing, he just wanted to be safe. He wanted the man to be safe.

With his heart pounding and knowing he couldn't last like this much longer, Chanyeol pushed away from the gore at the siren's neck and used what little strength remained in his tail to kick back, throwing the bleeding siren into the deeper water and rescuing himself. He kicked with everything until the waves lifted him up onto the sand bar of the shore. His eyes were big as he watched for the siren, sure the evil thing would lift itself from the sea foam yet again and come to finish him off. But after a moment, his side oozing with blood, Chanyeol was able to breath again.

The creature was gone.

Chanyeol relaxed for only a moment before the entirety of the situation rushed back to him and left him panicked. Searching the shore, his eyes finally found the human, his limp body having been pushed up onto the shore by the persistence of the waves. Chanyeol wasn't the most comfortable above water and, combined with this injury, movement was a struggle, but he dragged himself towards the man's tired body. He had to know... he had to know if all this had been worth it...

Pulling himself to the man's side, Chanyeol brushed wet hair away from the human's face, finally able to study him up close. Those plush lips were even more tempting and Chanyeol nervously ran his fingers over their heart shape. The man's skin was cold, his breathing was shallow and there seemed to be no response to Chanyeol's touch. Chanyeol didn't know much about humans, only the stern warnings his sisters had given him to stay away, but he knew that this... this wasn't good.

“In your image, I lost myself,” Chanyeol sang with an unsteady voice, much deeper than the man's and without confidence. He tried to match the man's song, tried to write the story of his affection for this man into his words – completely drunk in your body moments that I forgot to even breathe.

The man didn't move and Chanyeol felt tears start to burn in his eyes. He buried his face into the man's damp chest and tried to hide that shame. He shouldn't have even been here and now... He looked back up at the man again and felt warm, like they could have been in love, imagining a world of song and sea, had he just had reached out a moment before, had he just called to him on the shore and asked the man's name. He leaned in, his body protesting with pain, to kiss him...

And the man slapped him away, coughing up sea water.

Chanyeol pulled back, whining with the pain in his side as the man's eyes opened just barely and caught his. He started to speak but another bodywrecking fit of coughs kept him silent. The man turned on his side and vomited, slipping out of Chanyeol's hold and trying to regain control of his breathing.

“Who are you?” the man managed between shattering coughs, “What happened? You're... you're hurt. I-”

Chanyeol started to explain, his voice cracking and his heart pounding in his chest when a call from the beach stunned them both. “My prince! My Prince Kyungsoo, please!”

Chanyeol pressed his hands to his injury and glanced back and forth between the man – Kyungsoo - and source of the noise, before panicking and throwing himself back into the water. The waves washed away his blood and Chanyeol hurriedly swam back behind the rocks, just in time to see another man, around the same height but with lighter skin and a more traditionally regal expression come into view.

“My prince, you're soaked! What happened? We were only up the beach for a moment and we heard -”

Kyungsoo, still struggling to maintain his breath, waved off the other man's concerns and tried to stand on his own. Instead, he collapsed back into the sand, leaving the other man to worry over him, pressing a bit of cloth to Kyungsoo's forehead as though the small relief of a dry face would solve the problem. “I'm fine,” Kyungsoo said with confident voice that Chanyeol found absolutely delicious , “I need... if we could just sit for a moment.”

“Anything, yes,” the other man said, though he made no move to sit down alongside the prince. Instead, he turned to the sea and scanned the horizon with a worried expression. Chanyeol crouched lower behind the rocks and held his breath, even though he was too far away to be heard.

“Where did he go?” Kyungsoo asked a moment later. “Junmyeon, did you see him?”

Junmyeon's forehead creased, “Did I see who, my lord? You were alone when I came up to the beach.”

Kyungsoo shook his head, “No, there was someone. He pulled me from the water.”

Chanyeol felt his entire body sparkle, but the other man cooled him quickly with a sophisticated sort of laugh, “I think the lack of air has done something to your head, my lord. The beach is quite isolated. I can't imagine a fisherman or a salvageman would dare to -”

“It wasn't a fisherman, Junmyeon,” Kyungsoo said with that same beautiful certainty, “He tried to... he tried to kiss me.”

Chanyeol could see the pink come up in Junmyeon's face from the rocks and the prince's man finally made to sit down next to his charge, “I know there are many things that weigh on your mind right now, my little prince. But we can't let them get to us like this. I know -”

“You don't know.”

Junmyeon frowned at the interruption but said nothing as another round of heaving kept Kyungsoo from explaining any more. Instead they sat in silence, the seagulls returning to the shore to beg for more bread from the soaked prince. A prince of the world above... Chanyeol watched them, wanting to hear more, to memorize the rhythms of the prince's speech. He watched them until the sun began to set and his stomach ached and the dizziness finally claimed him.


	2. Chapter 2

The sea was never-ending, the journey into the deep blue. Chanyeol wasn't sure where he was going exactly. His mind was clouded, his injury still oozing blood. He knew he needed to get home and that home wasn't far, but everywhere he looked, he failed to recognize a single landmark. He had fallen into something like sleep from the blood loss and the waves seemed to have set him adrift in a whole new world. Here, the coral was bleached a horrifying white and though there were creatures still living in the little tunnels and caves of the reef, they were vicious things with wild teeth and suspicious eyes. Chanyeol pressed harder against his injury and pushed on.

Time passed (though Chanyeol wasn't sure how much) and he swam some distance (though it was mostly in circles) and slowly, Chanyeol began to understand that he was not going home. With a wrecked and terrified breath, he aimed for the sea floor and let himself sink down down down, until finally his body relaxed into the cool sand. Maybe if he just... rested... maybe if he just closed his eyes for a moment... and dreamt of Kyungsoo and whale songs...

Kyungsoo. Yes, I will follow my heart.

“A strange thing to find in these parts,” came a small, sweet voice. “A little merprince and oh, it's hurt too.”

Chanyeol again pressed against his injury nervously and tried to will the pain away. In this bleached place of horrors, who knew what sort of villain could this could be. He swallowed back his fear and remembered to be brave, though his voice trembled, “Show yourself!”

The owner of the voice didn't need to be asked twice. From just out of Chanyeol's vision, a stunning and monstrous thing descended. Like the mer, she was human enough with a small, delicate face that was framed by floating wisps of white hair. Unlike mer women however, she didn't cover herself and her small, perky breasts – pink blossoms on cream white skin – were exposed and she had adorned her body with sparkling silver designs, the origin of which Chanyeol could only guess. And her lower half, instead of the scaled tail of the mer, was that of a jelly – nearly transparent tentacles, long and searching, spilled out from beneath a capped hood that melted into her human torso. Some of the tentacles were thinner and snapped, seemingly of their own design, into little holes here and there in the coral, as though they were searching for food. Thicker arms lay still beneath her, though up and down their edges was a silvery luminescence that tickled at Chanyeol's most base instincts as sea dweller – whatever you do, do not touch.

“Staring is rude,” she commented, though she seemed pleased enough at Chanyeol's interest in her unique body and twirled around, letting her tentacles sway in the cool water.

Chanyeol focused his eyes upward, meeting her, “I'm trying to find my way back to the Triton Crevasse.” His voice cracked and he pushed harder against his side. “If you would help me, I'm sure my father would -”

“Oh sweet thing,” she cooed and with a flick of the larger arms, propelled herself towards Chanyeol with a smile, “I have no interest in what your father could offer me. That opportunity passed very very long ago.”

Chanyeol swallowed back another hissing round of fear, “Then if you would just... to be kind...” His mind raced with possibility, trying to understand this woman and her interest in him. He had heard so many things over the years of creatures distant to the mer, of creatures similar in build and yet not the same. They were stories of horror, of monsters of the deep who refused to be part of their society and instead, had fallen to barbaric and evil magic in order to sustain their miserable existences. This one though... she was so ethereally beautiful and yet -

“How about his highness allowing me to take a look at the little cut you have there?” she responded and one of the thinner tentacles reached forward, not waiting for his answer, to tickle at the slice. “Perhaps he would like a bite to eat and something to keep the blood hunters away.”

“I'm not afraid of sharks,” Chanyeol said, trying not to imagine the gore of the attacks he had seen in the past. “I must be getting home.”

“And why is that? What is at home for a dreamer like you?” Her probing tentacle slapped at his hand as though she were his mother reprimanding him for trying to take one too many treats after dinner. It was gentle but firm and Chanyeol, not wanting to upset the creature, allowed his hands to fall away. The wound was much worse than he had imagined, a hideous gash from just below his rib extending down into his tail. There was scales missing, but a few hung on, caught in the traumatized skin and it made the wound look so much worse. The stranger touched one delicately and Chanyeol winced away, “Ahh, then let's not mess with those until we have proper medicine.”

“If I don't go home, my father will send out a search party for me,” Chanyeol said. He didn't intend for it to be a threat, but the stranger seemed to take it as one and pulled back slightly.

Her eyes narrowed, “Seems a funny thing for such a little mer to, one minute, lust for the prince above the water and then, in another, to threaten me with all the force of the Tritons. What world do you want to live in, prince thing?”

“How do you know about that?” His body was frozen; he couldn't have escaped if he wanted to.

“The sea witch has eyes everywhere, isn't that what they teach you? Isn't that the story they tell to small babes when they want to frighten them into behaving?” She spoken with such amusement at the thought.

Chanyeol's eyes widened and his voice was small when he spoke, “You're the sea witch? The banished one?”

She giggled and the silvered designs up and down her body shimmered with rushes of electric magic, drawing and redrawing the lines into her skin. “Are you afraid now, little one? Tell me your name so that I can make you better.”

“Chanyeol,” he said before he had the mind to stop and she repeated the word with a deep curl of the tongue on the final syllable. It was a older pronunciation of his name, a more ancient tone and it made Chanyeol instantly more comfortable, though he knew, intellectually, that he should be more frightened than ever.

She said his name again, as though tasting it on her tongue, “The only prince of a small family. It's too bad that your many talents will never be recognized. Does your father know that you sing song like the humans do? What would he think if he knew that you had seen the prince above the water? Spoken to him?”

Chanyeol shook his head, dizzy from his wound and unsure of what to think about the witch's ability to read into his heart.

“Did you like the song the prince sang?” She prodded with a smile that reminded Chanyeol of his sister and her tentacles swayed in a way that made her appear so young. “He is handsome, though, isn't he? A bit on the short side for me personally, but strong. Surprisingly strong, that chest! And did you think of kissing his lips, the way humans show love?”

The mer prince's face would have blushed were he not so pale from his injury. Yes yes yes and to all of it, yes! He imagined the two of them swimming out into a warm bay, of Kyungsoo floating on the top of the water while Chanyeol dove deep and brought him trinkets – little pearls and sea shells and bits of pretty coral – all in exchange for kisses, more kisses and another verse from their song. They would have a song, one that Kyungsoo wrote for him and one that he would smile to sing every minute of every day, all for Chanyeol.

“A sweet story, yes,” the sea witch continued with dramatic sorrow, “But oh impossible! How could a human love a fish, after all? Humans are … well, you know how they are. If he knew how you truly were, what you looked like, he would take you for a monster. They judge so quickly.”

“I rescued him,” Chanyeol insisted, “He would know me. I saved his life and I...”

“Does he know that?” she asked and Chanyeol felt his mind tickle with uncertainty, “Does he remember you face or....?” The sea witch flicked at his injury, pulling a bit of the oozing blood away and shaping it into a crude illustration of the moment that Chanyeol and Kyungsoo had shared on the beach. “Would he remember or was he too sick with pain and terror?”

Chanyeol watched and lifted a hand to his cheek where Kyungsoo had struck him. Perhaps the sea witch was right. Perhaps Kyungsoo had batted him away, not on accident, but because he had thought Chanyeol the monster who had tried to lure him into the sea!

“And you must know that the prince, a royal like yourself... the prince couldn't possibly be allowed to love someone not of his station,” the sea witch lamented, a dirge of sympathy, “With his parents long dead, the king and queen a distant memory, he must have a great burden to find a human with which to partner.”

“How do you... how could you possibly know all this?” Chanyeol asked, though his heart was already drooping.

The sea witch curled around him, even her thick, electric arms encircling him in a tender embrace, “Sweet boy, why ask so many questions when magic is the answer? Magic could even … be the solution to your problem. Haven't you heard of the great whirlpool? Pure love, pure magic transformed her to walk on land and her marriage to the king was beyond fairy tales.”

Chanyeol's mind flickered to Yura, his sister and their conversation only hours before. He wished, more than ever, that she was here to help him. He needed her. She would know what do. He wanted to tell her about Kyungsoo and about their song. She believed in fairy tales and would want him to be happy.

“I could do it for you,” the sea witch said, resting her cheek against his in a motion that was meant to be comforting and warm, “I have the magic to make it happen. I could seal up that gash in your side and make you all over again – tall and handsome and human. And you could have the prince above the water, all for your own. To sing with and to kiss.”

“What about my family? I can't just... leave them,” Chanyeol said, though his heart was already excited by the witch's word.

“What have they ever truly done for you, my sweet? You just wanted to make music, to fall in love... and they would take all of that from you,” the sea witch said, echoing all the tearful nights that Chanyeol had ever spent in Yura's arms, angry and frustrated and seeking answers, “Wouldn't it be just as well if you proved them wrong and showed them what love and music could be?”

Chanyeol took a moment, pressing his teeth together in some attempt to keep the pain from directing his thoughts and finally, he nodded. “I … I just want to know what it could be like. To be loved for myself and not because I am the prince.”

The sea witch hummed in pleasure and ran her tentacles over Chanyeol's stomach, “Then a deal, we shall make. All magic takes a bit of a sacrifice. Payment....”

“Money,” Chanyeol said with a sad sigh, “I don't have anything to give you. I – I didn't know that you would want -”

The sea witch ripped from his side with an offended gasp, “Money?! Oh no, not that monstrous thing! I come from a more civilized time, I think. One where your dreams aren't limited by how much gold you have managed to pluck from those beneath you. I only ask for a small thing, to borrow a bit of you as... collateral. Something to ensure that once you and the prince-to-be-king, when the two of you rule over land and sea at once, something to ensure that you will pardon the unforgivable sea witch and allow me to return to more... fertile waters.”

Chanyeol frowned and thought of the stories he had heard growing up. That she had used her magic to take out entire armies, to seduce men and women alike to do her bidding....

“History is written by the winners, my Chanyeol, and yours truly has never won a damned thing,” she said, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking, and her face grew dark and took on a cruelty that Chanyeol hadn't seen up to now, “Consider that I am here now, helping you when you are on the edge of death, to find love and happiness. Consider that your father and his type have done nothing but keep you from that. Consider -”

“What … what do you want?” Chanyeol asked suddenly, cutting her off though his voice was quiet.

The sea witch smiled again, silver and beautiful, “A small token. You won't even notice it missing.” She curled up against him once again and whispered in his ear, “Your voice.”

Chanyeol tried to jerk away but her arms kept him neatly in place, “My voice?! That's impossible. How will he ever love me if we can't … if we can't make music together? How will we talk...”

With another frightening giggle, the sea witch ran a thick jelly arm over the front of Chanyeol's tail, “Humans don't like to talk, my dear. They so prefer a little... body language. And you'll have your voice back soon enough, as soon as you can get him to confess his love for you. I'll return your voice and you'll use it to set me free.”

Chanyeol tried to not to be swayed by how reasonable she sounded, how informed. The merprince was far from an expert on human culture, having learned only as much as Yura would whisper to him in the night and that itself was all based on rumors she had heard. Perhaps humans didn't care much for talking – that would explain why Kyungsoo and his manservant had been so content to silence on the beach earlier.

He wished for the first time that he had been better about listening to his sister.

“And if he … if he doesn't fall in love with me?”

“Impossible,” the sea witch said, a comment that should have been reassuring but just missed the mark, “A charming boy like you... a prince in your own right...”

Chanyeol considered, his injury still throbbing with pain. He worried his teeth along his lip and imagined how different things might have been if he had just approached Kyungsoo from the beginning. He imagined himself warm on the sand, Kyungsoo singing to him. He imagined throwing rocks at the siren from afar, he imagined Kyungsoo to be impressed with his strength and the directness of his rock-throwing. Silly? Perhaps, but Chanyeol wanted it... he did want this...

“All right,” he said softly at first before agreeing again quickly and louder, “I'll do it. I'll take your deal for the chance, for human legs.”

Th sea witch's eyes glowed and her smile spread wide across her face. Chanyeol didn't have a moment to ask another question and she offered not a bit more, quickly snapping her fingers and dissolving the world around the mer prince. The bleach white coral seemed to consume him. A brilliant light closed around him and he felt weightless, not at all like swimming but more as if he had no body to begin with. The water drained from around him and yet, he floated above the coral floor. The skin at his side suddenly burned, surging him back into his body, and when Chanyeol looked down to see for himself what had happened, there was nothing but a pink scar, as though his injury had happened many years ago. The most damaged of his scales slowly slowly began to pluck themselves from his skin, ripping out of his tale and flying into the light. Soon it wasn't just the damaged pieces of his tail, but all the scales on both sides of his body, ripping, tearing, crying out as they exited his flesh. He screamed and screamed.

And suddenly, he wasn't screaming anymore. His throat was raw and tense but no matter, there was no sound. Instead, something sticky and hard seemed caught in his throat. His hands flew to his neck but it was too late. From deep inside of him and making Chanyeol feel like he would retch, a black bubble clawed from his throat and flew away, singing as floated – I will follow my heart.

Chanyeol tried to grab at it, finally understanding the horror of what had happened, but the pain in his lower body stopped him, as two human legs wretched themselves apart, splintering what remained of Chanyeol's beautiful tail. Into the dome of white coral, the sea witch entered again and extended her hand, holding the black fluid in a perfect sphere, “It's a beautiful song. Keep your end of the bargain, Prince Chanyeol, and perhaps one day, your hope and your love will hear it.”

Chanyeol started to say something, started to react, but the white dome split in two and water rushed around him, filling his mouth and nostrils. He was, at first, glad to feel it. But then...

“Ahhhh, sweet boy. Don't forget,” the sea witch said with a shake of her finger, “Humans must breathe air.”

Eyes widening and terror filling him, Chanyeol pushed with legs like jelly towards a light he prayed was the surface. His new human lungs were on fire and as he kicked and kicked, the last of his brilliant scales fell from his flesh and towards the sea witch's grotto like shining confetti.

++

The merpeople had an ancient history and one that Chanyeol knew well. He'd been forced to sit through lecture after lecture for most of his childhood and he had managed, despite his own protests, to actually take in a bit of it. Though no one was certain when the mer had come into the sea, it was known well that they had not always lived as they did today. The castles and spectacular coral grottos of the Kingdom were newer developments, an evolution of culture. Some considered it barbaric and imagined that the wealthy mer, most of whom now lived in great homes, were nothing more than imitators of humans, betraying their kind. In ancient times, they said, the mer slept in the sand, wrapped themselves in the warmth of the ocean floor. Sometimes alone, but mostly nestled in the arms of lovers and family alike, they reminded all of what it meant to be decidedly of the sea, to sleep as your instincts, not your stolen culture, told one to sleep.

It was a silly debate and Chanyeol had rolled his eyes at the thought, content to sleep in bed of netted sea grass like the others of his station. But now... now the world was so cold and the sand was so warm and everything in him longed for it. He tried to curl his tail in an attempt to carve out a little space for himself in the sand only to find his new human legs were jelly-like and uncooperative.

He had made it to the shore, but only just and his mind was foggy from the terror of the swim. He had swallowed too much water and now his mouth was salty and dry. He'd thrown up so much, retching into the surf and clawing at the sand as he had pulled himself from the water towards the drier sand of the upper beach. Nervous and deeply hungry in a way he hadn't experienced in his privileged life, he had closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift away. Now, hours or minutes later for there was no telling, his new body woke him up again and this time, it was desperate. Move – find shelter and food – or die.

He sat up gently and started to examine his new body. His upper half had remained very much the same as it had been in his merman form, the only noticeable difference being the impossibly fading scar on his side, slicing down from his ribs to his hip. He ran his fingers over the dark skin, gingerly as though he expected it to still sting from the pain. Instead, it was as though his battle with the siren had been years ago. The skin there was slightly soft and still obviously healing, but there were no other side effects. Sighing with relief, Chanyeol turn his attention to the most extreme the changes – his two new human legs.

They were skinny and bowed out a bit and Chanyeol kicked them again to test their length and strength. They seemed impossibly long; how could anyone ever walk on such things? His body felt heavy, like he should be sinking into the sand, rather than sitting on top of it. Humans did this all the time, he reminded himself and focused on stretching all his appendages. He concentrated and wiggled his toes and finally, a small smile. Something about that was cute, something about these little almost-fingers and their limited movement. He did it again and started to laugh, his mouth falling open – but no sound came out.

No sound. No voice. And the terms of his contract, of his dreams, came rushing back to him. He... he had to get off this beach. He had to find Kyungsoo.

With renewed energy, he used his arms, still strong from years of swimming through great currents, to push himself up. He wobbled and immediately fell back to the ground, sand flying up around him. He would have grunted, would have complained, but again – all that came out was silence. He pressed his lips together and climbed up again, this time catching himself on a rock before he could fall. He used the rock to hold himself up, shifting on and off his two, nervous legs. Finally, after a few moments of testing each, he let himself take his first steps.

Reaching behind him for the comfort of the steady rock, Chanyeol lifted his left leg and set it down in front of him. Then his right. Then his left again. He had seen humans walk many times and he generally understood the concept. His right again, one more step with his left. He made the mistake of smiling and starting to feel positive – the next step sent him stumbling to the ground – but he had gotten so far and suddenly, it didn't seem impossible. He lifted himself to his knees and crawled back towards the rock, wanting to start again from the beginning.

“You there? Stop in the name of the high castle!”

Chanyeol nearly choked on his tongue and fell against his rock again. His mind screamed for him to hide, but... where was he to go? His legs were still tingling with all this new exertion and he wasn't sure he could make it back to the water. And even then, what could he do? He wasn't confident that he could swim out nor that he would be able to hold his breath for any meaningful amount of time. So he stopped as they said and clung to his rock.

The men who approached were clad in armor, save for one that Chanyeol recognized immediately as Prince Kyungsoo's attendant from earlier. Kyungsoo had called him Junmyeon and unlike the soldiers that accompanied him, he had a softer expression and a stylish black suit that gave him an aristocratic air. It was his soft, higher-pitched voice that had called to Chanyeol, “Boy, what are you doing out here? You must know that this area is being searched.”

Junmyeon's eyes dropped to look Chanyeol over from head to foot and back up again. Chanyeol hadn't been aware that shame was necessary until Junmyeon's eyes met his, concerned and unsure, “Can you tell me your name? What happened to you?” Junmyeon's questions were innocent enough but Chanyeol felt his pale skin blush and he wrapped his arms around himself, unsure of what he should be covering but desperate to do so.

When Chanyeol didn't respond, Junmyeon's forehead creased and he made some motion behind him for the guards to let down their weapons. One of the guards, a female with inky black hair, did more, replacing her sword in its scabard and removing her cape. She glanced at Junmyeon, knowing perhaps that she should have asked for approval first but not completely caring, before taking a new steps closer to Chanyeol and tossing him the cloth. It fell to the sand and Chanyeol lowered himself, unsteady, bending his knees until he could just grab the red cape and wrapped it with a gracious smile around his body. Junmyeon and the woman nodded with a hum of approval and Junmyeon extended his hand, “You must be freezing out here. If you'll let us, Joohyun and I will show you inside. We have some questions for you.”

Joohyun, the female guard, looked again to Junmyeon, “I don't know that we'll get much out of him. He... it doesn't seem like he speaks our language.”

Chanyeol shook his head and the group regarded him carefully. He shook his head again and gestured towards Joohyun. He pointed to his ear. I can understand what you're saying, he wanted to scream. Chanyeol tightened his grip on the soft fabric and tried to smile. He needed them to take him into the castle. He was terrified but he knew now that Junmyeon and this woman, in their kindness, might be his best way to really meet Kyungsoo.

“You can understand us, then?” Junmyeon asked slowly. Chanyeol nodded and pointed to his throat. He drew an “X” in the air and Junmyeon made an agreeable noise, “But you can't speak.” Chanyeol nodded again, vigorously this time. “Listen here then, this beach is not safe. Our prince was attacked here not even a day ago and we are searching for that criminal. You should not be here. You should be at home.”

Again, Chanyeol shook his head and drew another “X” in the air. No home.

Junmyeon looked to Joohyun and together they weaseled out what this meant, “You aren't from our city? You have no home to go back to? You are alone?”

Chanyeol nodded in slow sequence to their questions, happy to find that, even without his voice, the humans were eager to help and were quick to pick up on his nervous hand gestures. He smiled at them all, showing every tooth and feeling his heart grow with hope. Joohyun moved closer and closer to him as they spoke and now, she was nearly touching him, reaching out to take his hand. Chanyeol consented and started to let her lead him away, but within a few steps, he tumbled to the ground again. This time though, Joohyun was there, holding him up and helping him to keep her cape around him. She squeezed his hand in hers and helped him to stand, Junmyeon rushing to his other side to support him. He was so much bigger than either of them and yet...

“If you've been out here long, you may have seen the prince or his attacker,” Junmyeon explained as they walked away from the beach, Chanyeol learning slowly to take more regular and even steps, “If you'll let me, I'll get you new clothes and a place to sleep for the night, some food. Then the prince is likely to want to see you.”

Chanyeol stopped, shocking both Joohyun and Junmyeon. He looked at Junmyeon with big eyes and a recklessly joyous smile. Chanyeol, the Prince of the Sea, was going to meet Kyungsoo, the Prince Above the Water.


End file.
